"BRINDANDO" CITADO EN EL NEW YORK TIMES

En el New York Times del 18 de julio de 2015 se publicó una nota sobre el aniversario del atentado, Nisman, y la causa AMIA, incluyendo mi opinión como autor de "Brindando sobre los Escombros".  Poco a poco,  empiezan a escucharse otras voces...

ENLACE A NOTA NYTIMES

 
In Argentina, an Anguished Anniversary for Jewish Center Bombing

By JONATHAN GILBERT JULY 17, 2015

BUENOS AIRES — Argentines filled the streets outside the rebuilt headquarters of a Jewish community center here on Friday, 21 years after a van loaded with explosives was driven into the building, killing 85 people in one of the deadliest anti-Semitic attacks since World War II.

The annual ceremony at the site of the 1994 bomb attack has often been emotional with victims’ relatives pleading for justice in a case still unsolved and shaped by setbacks and controversy. This year, after the mysterious death of the prosecutor who led the bombing investigation for a decade, the ceremony was especially anguished.

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The crowd heard speeches extolling the work of the prosecutor, Alberto Nisman, including one drafted by his elder daughter, Iara, and dedicated a lengthy applause to him.

“The death of Alberto Nisman was an event so tragic for society that it made us feel the echoes of that bomb on July 18,” Ariel Cohen Sabban, a committee member of the community center, the Argentine Jewish Mutual Aid Association, told the crowd.

The ceremony was held on July 17 because of the Jewish Sabbath.

The anniversary reignited a debate between Mr. Nisman’s supporters and his detractors, who say his focus on Iranian suspects was misguided. Separate ceremonies were held by victims’ relatives who have been critical of Mr. Nisman.

For many of the victims’ relatives, however, the truth feels more remote than ever. Mr. Nisman, 51, was found dead at his home in January, slumped in a pool of blood with a bullet in his head.

“After 21 years, we have nothing; all we have is another victim,” said Sofía Guterman, a retired private tutor, 72, whose 28-year-old daughter died in the bombing, referring to Mr. Nisman. “We’ve always clung to the smallest hope that some truth would emerge. But justice here regresses; it does not move forward.”

As a siren wailed at the precise moment of the bombing, the crowd held up black-and-white pictures of the dead. Handwritten posters criticized Argentina’s public institutions for what are widely perceived as moves to obstruct justice. These include alleged maneuvers to distort the investigation involving former President Carlos Menem and a judge and prosecutors previously assigned to the case. They will appear in a much-awaited trial next month.

The unresolved bombing points to “ills that beset Argentine society,” said Dina Siegel Vann, Latin America director for the American Jewish Committee in New York, who was here for the anniversary. “There’s a sense of skepticism that there are no resources to address this.”

Investigators have still not established whether Mr. Nisman shot himself or was murdered. He was replaced by a team of four prosecutors.

Mr. Nisman had accused President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner and her foreign minister, Héctor Timerman, of conspiring to derail his investigation. Mrs. Kirchner, Mr. Nisman claimed, had ordered back-channel negotiations to shield former Iranian officials he believed had planned the 1994 attack, in return for trade benefits.

The accusations, which the government refuted, died in Argentina’s courts.

Mr. Nisman was found dead hours before he was due to present his findings before Argentina’s Congress. A pistol he borrowed from an assistant, used to fire the fatal bullet, was beneath his body, and a spent cartridge was at the scene.

While those in the crowd largely supported Mr. Nisman and his focus on the Iranians, the anniversary emphasized fissures in the Jewish community over how the investigation should proceed.

“We systematically confronted Nisman about the orientation of his investigation,” said Laura Ginsberg, 57, a university professor whose husband died in the bombing. Ms. Ginsberg, who did not attend the ceremony, is aligned with victims’ relatives who believe Mr. Nisman was coerced into focusing on Iran.

While many people hope that the impending trial involving former President Menem could provide new information on the bombing, Ms. Ginsberg said she could no longer trust Argentina’s judiciary. “It won’t take us toward the truth,” she said.

As the anniversary shifted attention to the bombing, and away from Mr. Nisman, some said his death might pave the way for justice.

“I don’t think Nisman was the key to solving the case,” said Horacio Lutzky, 55, a lawyer who has researched the bombing for years and wrote a book, “Toasting Amid the Rubble.” “Perhaps this tragedy will allow the case to embark on paths that had been abandoned.”

Others saw the anniversary as a time to reflect on wider issues, like perceived undercurrents of anti-Semitism. “When Jews feel scared, they unite,” said Roberto Pikholtz, 72, a retired businessman, pointing to the large crowd.

Mostly, there was a sense of desperation. “The death of the prosecutor is a phenomenal blow to the search for the truth,” said Luis Czyzewski, 71, an accountant whose 21-year-old daughter died in the attack. His wife survived.

Mr. Czyzewski recalled running toward the wreckage of the community center, past shards of glass and broken blocks of masonry. He wrestled past police officers, who had sealed the site. He found his wife, her face blackened and bruised.

Their daughter, Paola, was among the first to have died in the blast, experts later told Mr. Czyzewski.

“Each year, you feel worse than the last,” he said.